Feudal and feudalism in modern China

Abstract

“Feudal” is a core concept that has played an important role in modern Chinese people's understanding of their society and of the Chinese revolution. This article traces several key aspects of the process in which the feudal concept evolved. It points out that such a concept consists of two aspects concerning the late Qing dynasty: the question of centralization or decentralization of power in terms of polity and the question of popular participation in the country's politics. At the same time, with the translations and introductions done by Yan Fu, people began to equate the traditional Chinese feudal concept, based on fiefdoms, with the feudal era of the West. In the efforts of the May Fourth generation, the ideas of patriarchal society and feudalism were also merged. After the May Fourth Movement, with the rapid spread of Marxism in China, the feudal concept began to be interpreted in light of theories of socio–economic relations and class conflict. By the mid-1920s, a new theory of national revolution had come into being, with warlord-ism and the gentry's self-rule all becoming part of the feudal system and targets of the revolution.

Keywords:

• feudal
• constitutionalism
• Yan Fu
• patriarchal society
• national revolution

Notes

¹Ma Keyao, “Daolun” [An Introduction], in Zhongxi fengjian shehui bijiao yanjiu [Comparative Studies of Feudal Societies in the East and West], ed. Mao Keyao (Shanghai: Xuelin chubanshe, 1997), 1–19.

²Chen Jinlong, “‘Banzhimindi, banfengjian’ gainian xingcheng guocheng kaoxi” [An Examination on the Establishment of the ‘Semi-Colonial, Semi-Feudal’ Concept], Jindaishi yanjiu [Modern Chinese History Studies], no. 4 (1996), 227–31; Tao Jiyi, “Guanyu ‘banzhimindi, ban fengjian’ gainian de shouci shiyong wenti – yu Chen Jinlong xiansheng shangque” [About The First Application of the ‘Semi-Colonial, Semi-Feudal’ Concept – A Discussion with Mr. Chen Jinlong], Jindaishi yanjiu, no. 6 (1998), 221–25.

³Min Tu-ki, “The Theory of Political Feudalism in the Ch'ing Period,” in National Polity and Local Power: The Transformation of Late Imperial China, ed. Philip Kuhn and Timothy Brooks (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asian Center, 1990), 89–136.

⁴Gu Yanwu, “Junxian lun” [On the Prefecture and County System], in Gu Tinglin shiwen ji [Collection of Gu Yanwu's Poems and Essays] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959), 12–17.

⁵Feng Guifen, “Fu xiangzhi yi” [Comments on Recovering Local Offices], in Jiaobinlu kangyi [Protest of Jiaobinlu], (Tianjin: Guangrentang, 1898), 14.

⁶Mizoguchi Kozo, “Zhongguo de ‘fengjian’ yu jindai” [The Chinese “Feudal” and Modern Times], in Zuowei fangfa de zhongguo [China as a Method], trans. Sun Junyue (Beijing: Sanlian shudian, 2011), 95.

⁷Philip Kuhn, “Late Ch'ing Views of the Polity”, in Select Papers from the Center for Far Eastern Studies, vol. 4 (1979–1980), ed. Tang Tsou (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1981), 1–18.

⁸Refer to Zheng Hailin, Huang Zunxian yu xiandai zhongguo [Huang Zunxian and Modern China] (Beijing: Sanlian shudian, 1998), 404–12; for Gu Yanwu's influence on Huang Zunxian's self-rule idea, see ibid. 416.

⁹Kang Youwei, “Gongmin zizhi” [Citizens' Self-Rule], in Guanzhi yi [On the Bureaucratic System] part 8, Kangyouwei quanji [Complete Works of Kang Youwei], vol. 7, eds. Jiang Yihua and Zhang Ronghua (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2007), 274.

¹⁰Zhang Hao, Liang Qichao yu zhongguo sixiang de guodu [Liang Qichao and the Transition of the Chinese Thoughts], trans. Cui Zhihai et al. (Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1993), 143–46.

¹¹Taiyan, “Letter to Ma Liang” [Yu Ma Liang shu], Minbao, no. 19 (February 1908), 15.

¹²Ibid.

¹³Jingwei, “Geming de qushi” [The Trend of the Revolution], Min Bao, no. 25 (January 1910), 5. For related discussion, see Kuhn, “Late Ch'ing Views of the Polity.”

¹⁴Li Dazhao, “Shengzhi yu xianfa” [Provincial System and the Constitution], in Li Dazhao wenji [Collected Works of Li Dazhao], vol. 1, ed. Zhongguo Li Dazhao yanjiuhui [Li Dazhao Studies Society of China] (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1999), 222.

¹⁵Ibid., 223.

¹⁶According to the studies by Zhou Zhenhe, Chinese–English dictionaries compiled by foreigners did not translate feudal into “fengjian” and feudalism into “fengjian zhizhi” till 1916. Dictionaries compiled by the Chinese, as early as 1904, had already included the translations of feudal and feudalism. Zhou further points out that the Chinese translation of feudal into “fengjian” came from Japan. See Zhou Zhenhe, “Shijiu ershi shiji zhiji zhong ri ou yuyan jiechu yanjiu: yi ‘lishi’ ‘jingji’ ‘fengjian’ san yiyu de xingcheng weishuo” [The Studies of Confrontations of Chinese, Japanese, and European Languages in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century: Based on the Translation of “History,” “Economics,” and “Feudal”], Chuantong wenhua yu xiandaihua [Traditional Culture and Modernization], no. 6 (1996), 51–52.

¹⁷Edward Jenks, Shehui tongquan [A History of Politics], trans. Yan Fu, 1st ed. (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1904,), 19, 24, 74–75.

¹⁸Ibid., 92.

¹⁹Yan Fu, “Yizhexu” [Translator's Preface], in Shehui tongquan, 1–2.

²⁰Yan Fu's translator's notes, in Shehui tongquan, 143–44. Also see Yan Fu's comment: “China is a patriarchal society moving toward a military society. Generally speaking, seventy per cent of it is still patriarchal and thirty per cent of it is military,” ibid., 19.

²¹Ibid., 143.

²²Anonymous, “Shehui tongquan xinshu jieshao” [Introducing a New Book: A History of Politics], Dongfang zazhi [Eastern Miscellany] 1, no. 1 (March 1904), 244.

²³Yan Fu, “Du xinyi Zhenkesi ‘Shehui tongquan’” [Reflection on the New Translation of Jenks' A History of Politics], Dagong bao, April 20–23, 1904, in Yan Fu ji [Collective Works of Yan Fu], vol. 1, ed. Wang Shi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), 148.

²⁴Ibid., 151.

²⁵Ibid.

²⁶Ibid., 148.

²⁷Jingwei, “Minzu de guomin” [Citizens of A Nation], Minbao, no. 1 (November 1905), 1–13.

²⁸Taiyan, “Shehui tongquan shangdui” [Discussion on A History of Politics], Minbao, no. 12 (March 1907), 1–24.

²⁹Yang Du, “Zhongguo xinbao xu” [Preface to China News], in Yang Du ji [Collected Works of Yang Du], ed. Liu Qingbo (Changsha: Hunan renmin chubanshe, 1996), 208; Yang Du, “Jintie zhuyi shuo” [Doctrine of Gold and Iron] (1907), in Yang Du ji, 214; Hanmin, “Shu houguan Yan shi zuijin zhengjian” [A Discussion on Yan Fu's Recent Political Opinion], Minbao, no. 2 (May 1906), 1–17.

³⁰Haxiao, “Lun difang zizhi zhiji” [The Urgency for Local Self-Rule], Dongfang zazhi 5, no. 3 (April 1908), 35–37.

³¹Even 20 years later, the Nationalists' journal, Jianshe [Construction] still cited from Jenks's points in A History of Politics while discussing the well–field system ( jing tian zhi), which caused Hu Hanmin's protest that too much respect had been given to Jenks's theory. Refer to Ji Rongwu, “Jingtian zhidu youwu zhi yanjiu (san)” [A Study on Whether or Not the Well–Field System ever Existed, Part 3], Jianshe 2, no. 5 (June 1920), 71.

³²Chen Duxiu, “Dongxi minzu genben sixiang zhi chayi” [The Differences between the Fundamental Ideologies of the East and West], originally in Qingnian zazhi [The Youth] 1, no. 4 (December 1915), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian [Selected Works of Chen Duxiu], vol. 1, ed. Ren Jianshu (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 2010), 194.

³³Ibid.

³⁴Chen Duxiu, “Kongzi zhidao yu xiandai shenghuo” [The Way of Confucius and the Modern Life], Xin qingnian [New Youth] 2, no. 4 (December 1916), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian, vol. 1, 268.

³⁵Xia commented that “Confucius' purpose is about the monarchial power and his means is about patriarchal system.” See Xia Zengyou's “Shehui tongquan xu” [Preface to A History of Politics], in Shehui tongquan, 2.

³⁶Chang Naide, “Ji Chen Duxiu jun yanjiang ci” [Mr. Chen Duxiu's Speech], Xin qingnian 3, no. 3 (May 1917), 1–3.

³⁷Wu Yu, “Jiazu zhidu wei zhuanzhizhuyi zhi genju lun” [Family–Clan System as the Basis of Autocracy], Xin qingnian 2, no. 6 (February 1917), in Wu Yu ji [Collected Works of Wu Yu], ed. Zhao Qing et al. (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1985), 61–66.

³⁸Chen Duxiu, “Guoqing jinian de jiazhi” [The Value of the National Day Celebration], Xin qingnian 8, no. 3 (November 1920), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian, vol. 2, 278.

³⁹Ibid, 278–79.

⁴⁰Qu Qiubai, “Xin qingnian zhi xinxuanyan” [The New Declaration of the New Youth], Xin qingnian 8, no. 1 (June 1920), in Qu Qiubai wenji (zhengzhi lilun bian) [Collective Works of Qu Qiubai, Political Theories], vol. 2 (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1988), 7.

⁴¹Qu Qiubai, “Dongfang wenhua yu shijie geming” [The Eastern Culture and the World Revolution], Xin qingnian (quarterly), no. 1 (June 1923), in Qu Qiubai wenji (zhengzhi lilun bian), vol. 2, 14–18.

⁴²Ibid, 21–25.

⁴³Qu Qiubai, “Zhongguo zhi difang zhengzhi yu fengjian zhidu” [China's Local Politics and the Feudal System], in Qu Qiubai wenji (zhengzhi lilun bian), vol. 2, 32–38.

⁴⁴Chen Duxiu, “Sixiang shang de lianhe zhanxian” [The United Front of Ideology], Qianfeng [The Pioneer] 1, no. 1 (July 1923), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian, vol. 3, 102.

⁴⁵Chen Duxiu, “The Value of the National Day Celebration,” 278–79.

⁴⁶Cai Hesen, “Wuli tongyi yu lianshengzizhi – junfa zhuanzhi yu junfa geju” [Armed Unification and Provincial Self-Rule – Warlord Dictatorship and Fiefdom], Xiangdao [The Guide], no. 2 (September 20, 1922), 14.

⁴⁷Ibid, 15–16.

⁴⁸Ibid, 18. Also see Cai Hesen, “Tongyi, jiezhai yu Guomindang” [Unification, Loans and the Chinese Nationalist Party], Xiangdao, no. 1 (September 1922), 4–6; Cai Hesen, “Guoren yingdang gongqi de Chen Jiongming” [All Chinese Should Abandon Chen Jiongming], Xiangdao, no. 8 (November 2, 1922), 62.

⁴⁹Chen Duxiu, “Zenyang dadao junfa” [How to Defeat Warlords], originally in Xiangdao (April 18, 1923), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian, vol. 3, 29. Also refer to Chen Duxiu, “Duiyu xianzai zhongguo zhengzhi wenti de wojian” [My Opinion on the Political Problems of Contemporary China], originally in Nuli zhoubao [Endeavor Weekly], no. 18 (September 3, 1922), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian, vol. 2, 467–70; Chen Guorong, “Lianbang jiuguo di wojian – bingzhi Chen Duxiu xiansheng” [My Opinion on How Federalization Can Save the Country – My Questions for Mr. Chen Duxiu], Nuli zhoubao, no. 19 (September 10, 1922), 2.

⁵⁰Jiang Xiaseng (Jiang Guangchi), “Weiwushiguan duiyu renlei shehui lishi fazhan de jieshi” [The Interpretation of Historical Materialism on the Development of Human Societies], Xin qingnian(quarterly), no. 3 (August 1924), 37. Also see Jiang Guangchi, “Jingji xingshi yu shehui guanxi zhi bianqian” [Forms of Economy and Changes of Social Relations], Xin qingnian (quarterly), no. 2 (December 1923), 47–55.

⁵¹Liao Huaping, ed., Shehui jinhua shi [The History of Social Evolution]. The book was originally a transcript of lectures on politics at the time. I have seen two different versions. According to copyright pages of the two versions, one was published by the Political Department of the Central Political Training School in October 1926, and the other was printed for lectures by the Military–Political School of the Sichuan Army 3rd Division in August 1927. In the past, we always believed that the five-phase model of development came from Soviet Russia, especially from Stalin, but from what we find in the book about the phases of social evolution, the five-phase model actually came into being in China gradually from multiple theoretical sources.

⁵²Michael Y.L. Luk, The Origins of Chinese Bolshevism: An Ideology in the Making, 1920–1928 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 144–53.

⁵³John Fitzgerald, “Chapter 4: One Nation, One State: Feudalism and Social Revolution”, in Awakening China: Politics, Culture, and Class in the Nationalist Revolution (Stanford: Stanford University Press), 147–79.

⁵⁴Refer to Michael Luk, The Origins of Chinese Bolshevism, 145–49.

⁵⁵Mao Zedong, “Guomin geming yu nongmin yundong” [The National Revolution and the Peasant Movement], Nongmin yundong [Peasant Movement], no. 8 (September 1926), 1.

⁵⁶Ibid, 1. Also, Mao Zedong, “Hunan nongmin kaocha baogao” [A Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan], Xiangdao, no. 191 (March 12, 1927), 2063.

⁵⁷Gan Naiguang, “Shuishi guomin geming de zhulijun” [Who Are the Major Forces of the National Revolution?], Zhongguo nongmin [The Chinese Peasants] 1, no. 8 (October 1926), 8–9.

⁵⁸Chen Duxiu, “Shixing minzhu de jichu” [The Basis for Democracy], originally in Xin qingnian 7, no. 1 (December 1919), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian, vol. 2, 122.

⁵⁹Ibid, 121.

⁶⁰Mao Zedong, “Xiangren zizhi yu xiangren zhixiang” [The Self-Rule of Hunan and Hunan Run by Hunanese] (September 30, 1920), in Mao Zedong zaoqi wengao [Mao Zedong's Earlier Articles], ed. Zhonggong zhongyang wenxianyanjiushi [Party Literature Research Office] (Changsha: Hunan chubanshe, 1995), 524. Also see Mao Zedong, “Hunan zizhi yundong yinggai faqi le” [It is Time to Start Hunan's Self-Rule Movement] (September 26, 1920), in Mao Zedong zaoqi wengao, 517–18.

⁶¹Shen Xuanlu, “Zhonghua minguo de jichu zai nali” [Where is the Foundation of the Republic of China?], Xingqi pinglun [Weekly Comments], no. 21 (October 26, 1919), 3.

⁶²Chen Duxiu, “Zaoguo lun” [Nation Building], Xiangdao, no. 2 (September 20, 1922), in Chen Duxiu zhuzuo xuanbian, vol. 2, 480.

⁶³P. Sheng, “Zizhi yundong yu shehui geming” [The Self-Rule Movement and the Social Revolution], Gongchandang [The Communist Party], no. 3 (April 1921), 10.

⁶⁴Hualu, “Difang zizhi yu xiangcun yundong” [The Self-Rule and the Rural Movement], Dongfang zazhi 19, no. 6 (March 1922), 2.

⁶⁵Gan Naiguang, “Chuangkan de hua” [A Few Words for the Beginning Issue of Our Journal], Nongmin yundong, no. 1 (August 1926), 1–2; Gan Naiguang, “Shuishi guomin geming de zhulijun” Main Force, Zhongguo nongmin, 1–11; Chen Gongbo, “Fakanci” [The Forward], Zhongguo nongmin 1, no. 1 (January 1926), 1–2; Deng Liangsheng, “Nongmin yundong de zhang'ai – shenshi jieji” [The Barrier of the Peasant Movement – The Gentry Class], Zhongguo nongmin 1 no. 10 (December 1926), 15–18.

⁶⁶Gan Naiguang, “Shenshi mintuan xianzhang heyi fandui nonghui” [Why the Gentry, the Militia, and County Magistrates Hate Peasants' Union?], Nongmin yundong, no. 14 (October 1926), 1–9.

⁶⁷Gan Naiguang, “Shuishi guomin geming de zhulijun” , 8.

⁶⁸See the earlier notes on Gan Naiguang's “Why the Gentry, the Militia, and County Magistrates Hate Peasants' Union”; Keming, “Shenshi wenti fenxi” [An Analysis on the Gentry Class], Zhongguo nongmin 1, no. 10 (October 1926), 9–14. As for the incisive analysis on the relations between the feudal forces and peasants' union and the gentry class, see Mao Zedong, “Hunan nongmin yundong kaocha baogao” [A Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan], Xiangdao, no. 191 (March 12, 1927), 2061–66.

⁶⁹Fitzgerald, Awakening China, 153.